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Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, which nationalized the women's rights movement. More than three hundred people attended. A "Declaration of Sentiments" was written that stated all men AND women are created equal.
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During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the suffrage movement lost some momentum because women focused on assisting the war effort.
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In 1869, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association with the goal of granting women the right to vote. Such organizations helped to raise public awareness of suffrage.
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A victory came to the suffrage movement when the Wyoming Territory granted all female residents age 21 and over the right to vote.
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Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell created the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. This group believed it would be easier to gain suffrage rights through amendments to individual state constitutions.
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In 1890, the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. They planned to gain voting rights on a state-by-state basis. Within six years, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho adopted amendments to their state constitutions granting women the right to vote.
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The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage was formed in 1911. The group had a general opposition towards suffrage. Some reasons for their opposition were that it was unnecessary, it wouldn't make a difference in equality, and that it wasn't a natural right.
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The tide began to turn when Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party became the first national political party to support women suffrage.
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President Woodrow Wilson switched his stand on women's voting rights from objection to support and addressed the Senate in favor of suffrage, which in turn helped to tun the viewpoints of other citizens.
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James R. Mann proposed the House resolution to approve the 19th Amendment in order to grant women the right to vote. The measure passed the House 304-89.
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The Senate passed the 19th Amendment with a 56-25 vote. The amendment was then sent to the states for ratification.
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Within six days of the passing of the 19th Amendment, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan ratified it. Kansas, New York, and Ohio ratified the amendment on June 16, 1919. By March, 35 states had ratified the amendment, which was one state shy of the necessary three-fourths. Seven southern states had already rejected it.
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Tennesee was the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment with Harry Burns's vote in order to meet the three-fourths rule. Women had finally won!
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More than 8 million women across the United States voted in elections for the first time.
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It took over 60 years for the remaining twelve states to ratifty the 19th Amendment. Mississippi was the last.
